Discover everything you need to know about the 10 best skills to unlock in Ghost of Yotei, including how to use them effectively.
Skills in Ghost of Yotei are abilities or upgrades that enhance your combat, stealth, and survival performance. The game offers Onryo Skills to improve your maneuverability and survivability. Focus on skills that improve your base offense, Survival, and Assassination. Approach the Altar of Reflection to unlock skills. Each Altar provides you with one skill point to use on a skill.
Earn skill points by locating Wolf Dens across Ezo and rescuing the wolves from Lord Saito’s men. Unlock the skills that suit your playstyle and complement the build to become a powerful warrior in Ghost of Yotei. In this guide, we’ll discuss the 10 best skills to unlock in Ghost of Yotei, including what makes them powerful.
Top 10 Best Skills to Unlock in Ghost of Yotei
Below are the top 10 skills you can unlock first in Ghost of Yotei.
1. Perfect Parry
- Parry an attack at the last second to slow time and perform a counterattack.
- Earns a moderate amount of Spirit.
- L1 to Parry, then Square or Triangle to counterattack
Perfect Parry is the best skill to invest your points in the initial stages of the game. Use this skill to time your block at the last moment to slow down time and follow up with the counterattack. Enemies can’t counter this attack. This attack grants more openings, allowing you to deal massive damage and finish off the fight. It will enable you to moderate the amount of Spirit. Use Perfect Parry when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies. This skill is found on the Onryo Attacks tree. Practicing the parry is the topmost priority, making this skill even more crucial to unlock. Only one parry is enough to pull off Perfect Parry.
2. Roll
- Roll away from attackers, evade slow red glint attacks, and extinguish Fire.
- L + Circle, Circle to Roll
Roll is another best skill to invest in early in the game, allowing you to roll away from the attacks. Use this skill while fighting against a cluster of enemies to get out of danger quickly. The movement is relatively faster than the dodge, as you quickly roll to move away. Roll is best for acquiring bearings, along with avoiding the deadly enemy attacks from dangerous enemies. Use this skill to avoid the red glint attacks from the enemies, as these attacks can’t be avoided or parried. Having this skill enhances your survivability in combat. This skill can also be used to put out the fire on your character. You need to roll when the fire sword and arrow strike you on a battlefield.
3. Perfect Dodge
- Time your Dodge at the last second before an enemy’s attack lands to slow time and perform a deadly counterattack.
- L + Circle to Dodge, Square or Triangle to counterattack.
Invest your skill points in the Perfect Dodge ability after unlocking the Roll skill. The mechanism of this skill is the same as that of the Perfect Parry. Slow down the time by pressing the Circle button at the last seconds and do a counterattack to deal massive damage. Perfect Dodge grants you more openings for the attacks in combat, allowing you to dominate the enemies. You can also use Perfect Dodge on any attack, especially the red glints. Perfect Dodge can mitigate the use of Perfect Parry because you can dodge any attack the game has to offer.
4. Onryo’s Will
- Draw on your inner rage to revive yourself when downed.
- Down D-Pad when defeated.
- Costs 3 Spirit.
The combat mechanics in Ghost of Yotei feel more punishing than the previous titles in the series. You will be dead after only a few hits from the enemies. A few sword slashes are enough to take you down. Onryo’s Will is here to save your day, as it allows you to come back from the dead by using her rage and Spirit points. Use this skill to resurrect yourself while fighting with the enemies to give them a surprise. Onryo’s Will uses 3 Spirits to use this skill. This skill is especially for those who were not quick to use Spirit to heal during the fight. The Spirit cost competes with healing and Heavenly Slash usage.
5. Killer’s Instinct
- Enemies show a flashing aura if their death will alert nearby enemies.
Enemies gain a clear visual indicator of who is being watched. This allows you to avoid alarming the nearby enemies while taking it down. Killer’s Instinct makes your work easy in areas like tall grass. You can see the enemy to find the fixed gaze. An indication will pop up helping you to decide whether you should kill the enemy who is ready for assassination. You can see a pulsing red outline on an enemy, and killing the enemy will alert the nearby guards. This is the best safeguard, as you can’t find out a guard’s line of sight.
6. Chain Assassination
- Assassinate 2 nearby enemies in quick succession.
- Use R to switch targets.
Unlock the Chain Assassination right after unlocking the Killer’s Instinct. Use this skill to gain the ability to assassinate two enemies in a row while they’re closer to each other. Taking out two enemies at once is fun and allows you to progress easily. Two targets might be standing close to each other in stealth encounters. Chain Assassination allows you to kill two targets without alerting the nearby guards. So, use this skill to perform two stealth kills to assassinate two enemies at a time.
7. Brute Assassination
- Assassinate large Brute enemies.
Brute Assassination is a unique skill that allows you to take down large brutes. There will be a force open combat if you engage directly with large brutes, but using Brute Assassination allows you to kill them silently. Brutes are bigger in size and can’t be killed in stealth. Using the Brute Assassination perk allows you to kill the brutes like the normal enemies. This skill ensures a full, silent, clear path to progress further.
8. Heavenly Slash
- A fast unblockable attack that interrupts enemies and inflicts extra damage against Staggered enemies.
- Press Circle + Triangle to perform.
- Costs 1 Spirit.
Heavenly Slash allows you to zip forward and interrupt an enemy attack in combat. You can use this skill against any enemy, regardless they’re wearing armor or not. Heavenly Slash is a Katana skill that costs you 1 Spirit to learn. The attack is so powerful that it can’t be blocked, allowing you to interrupt enemies due to its fast movement. The damage from this attack is so much that the enemies get staggered. Use this skill to pressurize the enemies and dominate them in combat.
9. Concentration
- Slow time when aiming with a Ranged weapon.
- R2 while aiming.
Concentration is a skill from the Ranged skill tree that allows you to slow down time while aiming at enemies in combat. Weapons like a bow make it easier to take down enemies from a safe distance without taking any damage. Use the Concentration skill for a sneakily headshot to finish it off in a single shot. You can also slow down time, allowing you to pick Archer in the mid-fight.
Continue unlocking more skills from the Ranged skill tree, enabling you to slow time for a longer time and mitigate the cooldown. Enemies move very quickly and approach you, so having the Concentration skill while aiming at the enemies from the higher ground is a plus point.
10. Jump Kick
- Perform a jumping kick to interrupt enemies and inflict stagger damage.
- Ineffective against Brutes.
- Press X to jump, then Triangle to kick.
Jump kick is also a good skill to unlock, but it doesn’t work on large enemies like Brutes. Create stagger damage by jump kicking the enemy, making it crucial for destroying their defense. Jump Kick is more crucial for equipping a shield. The jump kick can also interrupt the enemy attacks in combat. Yari Spear also features the same effect with its Typhoon Kick ability.
